Finding Brian
by Rellik 01011993
Summary: After the last truck heist at Race Wars, Brian helped the team keep safe and hidden until they could get to Mexico. But when he sent for them to come home he was not sitting on their front steps as they'd expected. And he didn't show up anytime after, so they started searching as best they could. Brian/Xander (I hope you enjoy. Reviews are always welcome!)
1. Chapter 1

They'd all gathered seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but Brian still managed to find them somehow. "I didn't have much time so I couldn't get to everything, but the cars have been wiped down. There's enough circumstantial evidence to make your lives hell though, so you should probably all get out of here. Head to Mexico for a while."

Vince stared angrily up at Brian from the wheelchair the cop had commandeered from the hospital when he was sneaking Vince out. "If it's circumstantial, why can't we just stay here? They can't pin us with circumstantial can they?"

Brian shook his head. "No, but all of LAPD is gonna hassle you if you stay. You're making them look bad, not to mention they put one of their favourite UCs with you guys and he went native. They look like idiots at the minute, not to mention they look like idiots while they have guests. They don't like having to involve the FBI, they really don't like having their asses handed to them while the FBI is here."

Dom nodded. "So we go to Mexico…how long for?"

Brian shrugged, leaning back against his car. "Not sure, it'll take a while to get everything cleaned up so they can't mess with you guys. I'll let you know when it's clear though."

XXX

And he did let them know. Eight months after they left Dom received a parcel in the mail, inside were official pardons for everyone. He took them to a lawyer to make sure it wasn't someone just messing with them, and when they proved to be legit, he took the family home. He expected to find Brian sitting on the front steps, but he wasn't there.

When Dom asked Harry about Brian, he said he hadn't seen the kid since before everything went down. He asked around all the LA racing scene, but no one had seen him. There were rumors he'd raced his way to Miami, but no one knew for sure. And when he finally bit the bullet and asked Tanner about Brian all he got in response was a glare.

So they put the word out in the scenes, if anyone bumped into Brian O'Connor or Brian Spilner or Brian Anderson…any white Brian with big baby blues, Dom wanted to know about it. Months went by and they heard nothing, and Dom couldn't sit still any longer, he went to Miami.

In Miami he found out Tej was the man to talk to when you were looking for someone or something. He knew enough about anything going down that he could find just about anyone. Tej stared at him when he explained who he was and that he was looking for Brian.

"Huh, crazy ass white boy was right." Tej shook his head and walked out to the back of the garage, Dom followed him into a tiny house boat. "Brian said you'd be by, said when you came I had to give you this." Tej threw a duffel bag to him. "Said it was for the family, to help ya'll back on your feet."

Dom unzipped the bag and fell back onto the couch in shock. Full to bursting with hundred dollar bills, Dom wasn't sure where Brian could have got so much money. He looked up at Tej who was grinning like a mad man. "Where'd he get this man?"

"The FBI caught him racing here…kind of blackmailed him into doing a job for them. Go undercover as a driver for the drug lord, put the drug lord and his money together and they'd clear his record. He upped the ante to include all of ya'lls pardons and they had to agree cos they had no one else. Only problem with their plan was that they didn't know how much money this guy had. So Brian took the chance to unleash his sticky fingers for once." Tej grinned. "Rome, a friend of Brian's from when they were kids, he got half of what Brian lifted cos he did the job with him. His share is what's there at your feet."

Dom shook his head in disbelief. Brian had gone against the job to let them go, gone against the law when he removed evidence and been hunted down and he thought he owed them a bag full of cash? "So, why didn't he come home when they cleared his name?" Dom asked quietly, hoping the answer wouldn't be one that would smash their family apart. "He knew we'd be coming cos he sent those pardons, why didn't he meet us there?"

Tej shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know man, he was planning to have a bit of bay time with his car one morning before the shop opened but he disappeared in the night. Two weeks later his car disappeared. Never said anything to anyone and we haven't heard from him since, other than the note I found sitting on top of that bag.

XXX

Jesse came running into the main part of the garage more excited than he'd been in months. "Dom! Dom! I've got a way to find him!" he yelled urgently, almost tripping over Vince's legs where they were sticking out from under a car he was working on.

"Slow down Jess. Who have you got a way to find?" Dom asked in that voice he used when Jesse was mentally twelve miles ahead of the rest of them and he needed to drag him back to explain.

"Brian! I've got a way to find him! So I put some extra feelers out right? On top of the racing scenes. I know a fair few hackers around the place. They're always going into places they shouldn't online, so I figured they might catch sight of Brian if he's with the cops or FBI or whatever."

"He's _still_ a narc?" Vince grumbled. He'd thought for sure that Brian would have given up on being a cop after he let the team go. If only so he didn't have to go around pretending to be something he wasn't, going into dangerous situations for months on end because his superiors wanted information.

Jesse shrugged. 'I don't know, but he might be so it was worth a shot right?"

Dom smiled at Jesse. "So someone hacked something and found Brian by accident then?" He'd been trying to find the buster since the man hunt for Officer O'Connor was televised and he realised Brian hadn't said Dom got away from him, hadn't tried to hide the fact he'd _let_ Dom go. He wanted the kid to know they were still family. He'd seen that look on Brian's face often enough while he was with them to know that Brian didn't have family of his own; that envy of family and the uncertainty of what he was meant to do.

Jesse shook his head. "Nah, no one's caught sight of him, but a friend in England made this program...calls it God's Eye. Basically the best hacking, locating and tracking program there's ever been. I send a photo of Brian and God's Eye gets the parameters to find him. It hacks into every camera and audio device there is. Brian walks past a soccer mum talking on her camera phone? We've got him. Gets into a car where a camera can see him, then God's Eye has his licence plate to track."

"This is great Jess! I'll get all the photos we've got of him for you. More we send the better right?" Leon asked, for once his calm mellowness taking a back seat to excitement.

XXX

It was a week before Ramsey had any news on Brian, and as soon as he saw the caller ID Jesse put his phone on speaker. "Uh, Jess, God's Eye found him but...I don't know if it's in time or not..."

"What are you talking about Ramsey? What's happening?" Jesse asked worriedly. He knew Brian had a knack for getting into trouble, but he also had a knack for getting back out. He'd told Ramsey all of this, so something seriously bad had to be happening for her to say what she'd said.

"Hang on and I'll..." they could hear furious typing of keys on her end. "There. Have a look at your computer."

The team ran to Jesse's area of the garage and found Jesse's computer showing Ramsey's screens. Brian was somewhere that obviously wasn't America and he was in the middle of a shootout, by himself, surrounded by people who obviously wanted to seriously hurt him. He was already bleeding.

"Jesus Brian, what the hell are you doing?" Leon murmured, staring at the screens in horror. They watched in awe as he took out almost every man there. They'd never seen him do anything in line with his job as a police officer, never seen him shoot or subdue someone, it was a relief to see he could handle himself when he chose to. And it was suddenly very obvious that every fight that he had lost with Vince had been by choice. He took the first hit from the burly guy wearing a fur coat like it was nothing. And then he got serious. Within minutes the guy was on the ground and Brian was talking angrily to him…in another language.

It was then they saw another man step out from behind a post, his arms crossed and his expression a mixture of amusement and controlled anger. Amusement and controlled anger on the face of a man who could almost be a clone of Dom. "I don't see why I had to sit back and watch the whole thing, could have helped." The big guy grumbled, throwing a coat over Brian's shoulders.

"Huh, who new Dom could be a mother hen." Leon laughed, ducking the swipe Dom took at his head. "Seriously, he looks exactly like you man."

"We went over this." Brian answered in exasperation. "Anatoly," a harsh twist on an almost dislocated arm of the man on the ground. "Wouldn't have shown his ugly face if he thought I wasn't alone. You did see he only showed up near the end there, right X?"

"Mmm, still don't like it. They're expectations are getting higher Brian, what are you going to do when they send you on a job that will kill you?" the man called _X_ asked.

Brian shrugged, pushing on Anatoly's arm in a certain way that made him flip over onto his stomach in an effort to keep the shoulder in its socket, Brian smiled at the reaction as he pulled out a set of zip ties. "Go surfing?" he asked happily. "Or snowboarding. I dunno X, we'll think of something to do."

"You really think they'll just let you blow them a kiss and walk away?" X asked curiously, picking Anotoly up and setting him down on his feet, leading Brian to a nearby bench seat. "Think they might have something to say about that Brian."

Brian grinned. "Why do you think I haven't done it already? It's gonna be tricky to make them realise I'm serious…and that they shouldn't kill me for turning down a job. Wait…is it a job? I don't get paid, and I sure as hell didn't willing sign up for this. Coercive employment…nah, that still leads to being paid…"

X chuckled, pushing Anatoly back to the ground so that he was sitting on his butt with his legs out in front of him. Next he guided Brian to sit on the bench and pulled the coat back off his shoulders. "I called your contact when you got him on the ground but I don't know how long they're gonna take. You think they shot you anywhere vital?"

Brian shrugged, leaning back while X checked his wounds. "Not sure, adrenaline's still pumping." He watched X check every wound, seemingly surprised at each new patch of blood the man found.

X pulled Brian's coat back around his shoulders, he still looked angry but he was far more relaxed than he had been. He pressed a kiss behind Brian's ear before wrapping his arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close for warmth. "Nothing too bad this time. Luckily."

Brian grinned up at the big man. "You just love watching me fight twenty-odd guys at once, don't you? Gets you hot." He chuckled, like he thought he was hilarious.

"Mmm, and you speaking Russian when you're angry." He dropped another kiss on the top of Brian's head. "You have no idea just how fucking hot you are O'Connor."

Everyone but Mia looked surprised at the realisation that Brian was gay, or at least swung both ways. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to get further away from X, in fact he was leaning closer, like the man was a comfort.

Brian was still laughing when two black SUVs arrived. One was obviously for Anatoly as the passengers picked him up and left without a word to Brian or X. The other was clearly for Brian and his friend, as X helped Brian to his feet and walked him over to the car. "He got shot a few times, think there might have been a couple of stabs as well." He explained to whoever was in the car as he helped Brian in.

"Seriously, you're loaning the plane. I wanna go somewhere _warm_." Brian could be heard grumbling at someone until X shut the door behind him.

Toretto's family glanced at each other hopefully. "LA's warm, right?" Letty verbalised what they were all hoping. Maybe Brian was finally going to come _home_.


	2. Chapter 2

Dom nodded in agreement. "Ramsey, can you track that SUV to wherever they're staying? Maybe hack their records so we can get a room number?"

"Sure thing Dom," Ramsey answered happily. She'd known Jesse for years and she was more than happy to do anything she could do to help him get his family back together. The team watched the screens of God's Eye as it tracked Brian across the city, praying to the car gods that they wouldn't lose him again now that they'd just found him.

"Wonder if he'll bring Pretend Dom with him when he comes home." Leon questioned, not quite sure if he wanted Brian to bring an outsider with him or not. If X came with him, then they'd have to share him. Brian had always been all of theirs, they'd never had to share him with someone outside of the family.

"That'll be up to him, I'll let him know it's his choice when I talk to him…" Dom answered, watching as two black-suited agent types got out of the SUV at a hotel. They had obviously intended on helping Brian out of the vehicle, but quickly changed their minds at X's possessive growl. Brian merely chuckled as he let himself out, patting X on the shoulder as he stepped passed him.

"Come on, I'm tired." Brian encouraged when X simply stood there glaring at him. "Want to sleep."

X caught up to Brian quickly. "Yeah well getting shot will do that to a person." He answered sarcastically. "And getting stabbed. And hit."

Brian stepped in close to X, tucking himself under the bigger man's arm and wrapping his own arm around the guy's waist. "There, happy now?" Brian murmured softly, knowing full well that X needed to be able to at least feel like he was helping and comforting after he'd watched Brian get wounded.

"Mmm, be happier once you're showered and sleeping. Be even happier when we're on that plane heading somewhere warm." X answered.

The team watched them disappear into the hotel, happy to see that X was at least taking care of Brian. He might have sat back while Brian fought, but he was doing his damnedest to make sure the ex-cop was well taken care of after it.

Dom dropped a kiss on the top of Jesse's head. "You did a good thing, Jess, sending the word out in your own circles." Jesse's face lit up at the praise, and at the realisation that it had been _his_ contacts that managed to find Brian.

"Dom, they're in room 564, give me another minute or so and I'll have a direct phone number for you…" Ramsey murmured.

XXX

Brian fell onto the hotel bed and moaned. Warm sheets over a marshmallow soft mattress had never felt so good. He'd had the quickest shower he could possibly manage while still emerging clean of blood. X had told him to take his time but all Brian wanted to do was lie down and sleep. He was glad they'd agreed to patch him up in the SUV instead of taking him somewhere. Now he could sleep in a comfy bed and not wake up until he was ready.

Before he could drift off the phone beside the bed rang. If he didn't think it might be Gibbons calling with critiques or another mission he would have ignored it. Unfortunately, he had learned the hard way that Gibbons would not be ignored. So instead of rolling over and going to sleep he lifted the phone. "Hello?"

"Brian?" a voice he'd never thought he'd hear again. They might sound alike, but Brian was so accustomed to both voices that he could easily pick the differences. "It's Dom. You have a minute to talk?" He'd never heard Dom unsure of himself or hesitant, but that's what he was now.

Despite protesting muscles, Brian sat up. "Dom? What's wrong? Is everybody alright?" he asked, suddenly worried that his family was hurt or in danger. Sure, he didn't think they would still consider him family, but they never stopped being his.

"Relax blondie, everyone's fine. Well…other than the fact one of us has been missing for over a year. We found a way to track you down, heard you mentioning a vacation somewhere _warm_ …LA is warm Brian."

He almost dropped the handset of the phone in shock. "You…you guys tracked me down? And how the hell did you hear me mentioning a vacation?"

Dom chuckled. "Probably better not talk about the _how_ over the phone. We'll tell you all about it when you come to visit…" another uncertain pause. "That is…if you want to visit. We get it if you don't want to."

Brian shook his head quickly, before his exhausted brain caught up to the fact that Dom couldn't see him shaking his head. "No, no, I'd love to come visit if you guys want me to. Wasn't sure you all would want anything to do with me…" he admitted softly.

"I thought you'd be sitting on the front steps of the house when we got back from Mexico with our pardons. When you didn't show we started to spread the word, but no one saw you. Anyway, that's for another conversation. Will you come visit? Everyone's been missing you."

Brian couldn't find words for a moment, the feeling of relief washing over him making him forget his words. His family still wanted him. His family had been _looking_ for him. "Uh yeah, umm, you guys mind if I bring someone with?" he stuttered out. He hadn't ever planned how he'd introduce Xander to the Toretto's because he thought he'd never have to.

"We saw him on some surveillance cameras, he's more than welcome Brian. Get some rest, and ring us when you need us to pick you up from the airport." Dom hung up the phone before Brian could respond.

Xander took the phone out of his hand a few seconds later and put it back in its cradle. "Take it you heard from the family." He murmured with a smile. Brian nodded dumbly in response, still too shocked to find words. "Told you they wouldn't kick you to the curb. So, we're going to LA then?" he settled into bed before pulling Brian to lie down beside him, tucking the blond carefully into his side.

"Umm, yeah. Dom said they saw us on surveillance footage somehow, said you're more than welcome." He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He'd been living with the certainty that they'd want nothing to do with him for over a year now. To finally be told, by Dom no less, that he was still one of them… He had expected a repeat of the whole thing with Rome when they were younger.

XXX

Brian was picking up can of NOS energy drink while he waited for the SUV the next morning when Xander came into the room and grabbed it out of his hand. "No energy drinks! You're already antsy about heading to LA, I ain't sitting on a twelve hour flight with you while you're hopped up on NOS and anxiety." He admonished, replacing the NOS with a cup of coffee…which he had no intention of telling Brian was a decaf.

"I'm not antsy I'm just…" Brian frown, taking a swig of coffee while he tried to find the appropriate word to explain what he was at the moment.

"You're just antsy, is what you are." Xander grinned. "But that's ok. _They_ found _you_ Brian, they wouldn't have done that if they didn't love you. If they didn't want you back home." He pressed a kiss against Brian's neck as the driver of the SUV approached them.

The agent scowled. "Really?" he complained. "In front of me? Do you really have to Mr Cage?" He picked up Brian's bag, leaving Xander's on the ground and refusing to help the man.

Xander shrugged, swinging his duffel bag over his shoulder and wrapping his spare arm around Brian's shoulders, who smirked in response to Xander's possessive move. "Not my fault you can't accept the fact that the man is taken." Xander responded calmly to the agent, not even trying to hide the smirk.

The man sputtered in response, face going red. "That's not…it's not…what made you think…" his eyes bulging as he tried and failed to get a whole sentence out.

"What Craig is trying to say is he's not in love with me. We were in the academy together when we were young. He doesn't like seeing a criminal lay claim." Brian offered with a grin before crawling into the SUV, muscles protesting at doing anything much but he was too stubborn to let Xander help.

XXX

He managed to stay reasonably calm until they heard the announcement that the plane was descending to LA. Then he started to panic. "Brian, would Dom have bothered to call you home if he was angry with you?" Brian blinked up at Xander. "They probably weren't very happy when they found out you were a cop, cos they would have thought you were going to betray them. But you more than proved your loyalty. They love you Bri, they're your family." Xander murmured and he watched in shock as his words actually had an effect and Brian started to calm down. "Seriously, you'll jump out of a plane, happily get shot at, but come home to the family and you freak?" he teased.

Brian scowled at him playfully. "Shut up, you'd be freaked too if you knew what we were going home _to_. Dom could probably kick my ass one handed, and Vince has done his damnedest a few times."

Xander laughed. "Dom's the one that looks like me? Of course he could kick your ass. But seriously man, I've seen you take down some big dudes. It might take a bit of effort, but you could probably kick his ass if you wanted."

XXX

They were glancing around at the crowd of people greeting arrivals, trying to find the Toretto's when Brian found himself engulfed in a hug. "Brian! Man it's good to see you!" Jesse exclaimed excitedly. "We've been looking for you for _ages_!"

Brian grinned down at the younger man. "Jesse, good to see you too." He wrapped his arms around his shoulders, knowing he wouldn't be letting go for a little while yet.

Then Dom was standing in front of him with a content smile on his face. "Brian, good to see you brother." Instead of waiting for Jesse to let the blond go, Dom pulled him into a hug from the side, wrapping one arm around Brian's shoulders. "Glad you came home." He murmured so only Brian could hear.

"Hey! It's Dom Two!" Leon exclaimed with a grin, staring at Xander. "I don't know where he found you man, but this is just weird!"

"Found me on a cargo plane, couple minutes before they dropped our asses in the middle of a cocaine plantation." Xander replied slowly. Brian had told him it was fine to tell the family anything he wanted to, but he didn't know these people and he wasn't sure how they'd react to what had been Brian's life since they last saw him.

Everyone stared in shock for a moment before Vince snapped himself out of it and stepped toward Brian, Jesse and Dom stepping back to give the two room. Vince gave Brian a lopsided smile before pulling him in for a hug. "Good your home brother, we been worrying."

When Vince let him go Brian stumbled back a step, staring at the man in stunned silence. "Vince?" he asked confused.

The scruffy man gave a one shouldered shrug. "Only ever hated you cos I knew you were the fuzz and after Mia, knew you'd tear our family apart. But you protected us instead, gave us a way out and then a way home. Did more for family than most ever would."

Mia rubbed her hand along Vince's shoulders, smiling at him with tears in her eyes. "It's good to have the whole family together again." She pulled Brian into a bone crushing hug before doing the same to Xander. "We appreciate you looking after him, welcome to the family." She kissed his cheek and stepped back.

"Right! Time for food!" Vince decided loudly. The first available time to fly had had the plane landing late morning on a Sunday, and Brian knew how important the Sunday barbeques were to everyone, especially Vince.

"Sorry we landed on a Sunday, it was the quickest they could arrange for us." He murmured to Dom as he and Xander followed the family through the airport. "I didn't want to cause chaos on barbeque day."

Dom offered him an exasperated smile. "We're glad you landed on Sunday, barbeques are a good time to have a reunion with wayward family." He paused for a second, seemingly uncertain of what he was going to say. "We do all need to sit down and go over everything you told us about yourself while you were undercover, gotta get to know the real you Bri."

Brian nodded quickly, only too happy to go through any kind of interrogation they might have for him. He felt he owed them far more than answers about himself, but if that's what they wanted he was all too happy to give it. "Yeah man, of course."

Everyone was unlocking their cars when Xander came to a sudden stop, staring at the cars. Of course they'd all come in their own car, Brian had never understood their aversion to riving to driving together, especially when they weren't racing. "Brian, this is what they _drive_? Like…all the time?" Xander asked in shock.

"Yeah man, I told you you'd like them." Brian grinned at Xander before pulling him closer to the cars.

Dom laughed, happy to see that at least Brian was with a guy that could appreciate some decent cars. "You can look 'em over after the barbeque, but right now we gotta get moving. There's food to eat and Coroners to drink man." He laid a gentle hand on Brian's shoulder and guided him to Dom's car, knowing full well that Xander would follow.


End file.
